


White Nights

by Genie60



Series: Poldark Series 2- Dribs and Drabs [20]
Category: Poldark (TV 2015), Poldark - All Media Types
Genre: Demelza takes control, F/M, Insecurity, Marriage, Poldark AU, Ross is an idiot, The Other Woman, VBT, marital sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-26
Updated: 2017-02-26
Packaged: 2018-09-27 03:40:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9953048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Genie60/pseuds/Genie60
Summary: S2 Ep8 filler--What if Demelza told Ross what was keeping her awake that night Verity visited? And what if he actually listened?





	

**Author's Note:**

> A little something that I needed to write. Don't know why. It started out emotional and morphed into something---else. 
> 
> And for those who have read my AU version of episode 8 (where Ross isn't an idiot and stays home) imagine that didn't happen when you're reading this.

Demelza tried unsuccessfully to get comfortable in bed.  Her mind kept replaying what Verity had said earlier during her visit about Elizabeth and a possible change in her circumstances.  What could that mean?  And could the man sleeping next to her have anything to do with it?  Visions of her husband and his first love played over and over in her head.  She was briefly transported back to the time when she was ill and was sure that Elizabeth had come to take him as she herself was most likely going to die.  A knot formed in the pit of her stomach at the memory of that time. 

Now they were struggling again.  Not with death but with the mine and within their own marriage.  The strain of running a failing business coupled with Ross’s seemingly over attentiveness towards Francis’ widow and child led to a rift in her own home.  While they had seemed to come together at Christmas and were apparently on the same page for a while, once again Elizabeth’s presence and her never ending need for Ross’ attention cast a shadow over them. Ross seemed to be oblivious to it and Demelza was too proud to say anything. Yet she knew that something was going on with Elizabeth and knew that whatever it was would affect Ross and thereby affect her. 

The tiniest part of her brain wondered if he was finally going to make a move and act on his long buried feelings for his first love, leaving her and Jeremy to manage on their own.  Logically she knew this was most likely just her mind working overtime but after a year of Elizabeth hinting, teasing and calling on her husband it was hard to ignore the reconnection that had formed.   At times she felt as though she were back in her first year of marriage, still fighting the memory of Elizabeth while trying to make Ross see her for who she was.  And then there were times like Christmas, where the gift of a simple pair of stockings was enough to reignite the passion between them to the point where their hearts and minds were one and where any doubt about his love was erased.

Demelza turned again, pulling at the crisp white sheets and coverlet, her linen nightgown twisting around her legs, trapping her in an uncomfortable position.  She didn’t realize she was being watched until she came face to face with Ross, his eyes staring at her in the dark.

“What’s wrong Demelza?  Is it Verity’s news that keeps you awake?”

His voice was sleepy and yet stirred feelings in Demelza she was hard pressed to ignore. 

“Yes, it must be, “she said quietly, almost to herself. 

She turned over again, facing away from him, her eyes staring at the fire, the covers clutched close to her chest.  It wasn’t that she was cold, but she felt a chill; the kind that comes from feeling distant and perhaps alone.  Demelza closed her eyes and tried to relax enough to sleep when she felt his arm snake around her middle traveling up to her breast to caress it and his breath on her neck sending a new kind of chill down her body.  Her eyes tightened as she did not want to succumb to the passions his touch evoked, especially if he was reaching for her when thinking of someone else.  

Letting his hands and mouth roam freely and feeling his body against her back, Demelza did not immediately turn to face him.  It was not until he whispered her name that she rolled towards him, her arms grasping his but doing nothing else.

“Demelza?” he said softly.  He brushed the tiniest of kisses on her lobe.  He then let his tongue lick the shell of her ear following it with a light breath. 

Still she said nothing but kept her eyes closed for she knew if she gazed into his hazel orbs her resolve would be gone. Demelza felt an ache in her heart as she imagined Ross doing these same things to Elizabeth.  Did he get this close to her when he visited?  Did he whisper in her ear?  Without warning, tears gathered in her eyes and a sob escaped her lips. She gulped trying to retrieve the sound but it was too late.  He clearly heard and saw her distress and pulled away to look at her face.

“Something is wrong. What is it? Please my dear, tell me,” he said, his voice persistent. 

Demelza opened her eyes slowly and searched his face.  She could see that he was concerned but could she share with him what she considered her darkest fear?  Would he laugh at her for being a fool?

“It’s nothing Ross,” she replied in a less than convincing tone.  In an attempt to change the subject, Demelza reached up and kissed him and for the first time did not kiss her back.  He knew what she was trying to do and was not going to let her get away with avoiding him.  Usually he was the one quick to drop an unpleasant topic, but seeing his wife cry, something she rarely did, made Ross realize that something important was bothering her.

“Demelza, stop it!” he said as he pushed away from her to sit up. 

“I thought you wanted to make love to me.  Or would you rather have someone else in your bed.”

The statement was out before she could stop it but a part of her knew it needed to be said. The thoughts about Elizabeth had imbedded themselves in her mind since Francis’s funeral and had tainted her spirit.  Demelza found that she had become suspicious, sometimes bitter and even hopeless in her fight for Ross’s love over a past that seemed resurrected and perhaps even stronger than any love he might have for her.

“What did you say?”  Ross asked.  He sat back as he waited for Demelza to explain herself.  His wife pulled herself up and turned to face her husband.  Her hair fell around her face, hiding her embarrassment as well as the tears that still filled her eyes. Grabbing the sheet, Demelza wound it around her hands, her fingers tracing the seams and embroidery at the edges.

“Demelza, what did you mean by that?  There is no one else I want in my bed or anywhere else,” he said emphatically.

Looking up, Demelza did nothing to stop the tears, letting them fall as she locked eyes with Ross.  She could see the confusion in them and his face, while not hard was far from the soft, loving countenance of a few moments ago.  She still wanted to know if he was seeking solace in her arms only because he couldn’t have the person he wanted yet.

“Are you sure Ross?” she asked quietly.

Ross stared at his wife trying to figure out where these ideas were coming from and why they were being voiced now.  Had something happened that he didn’t know about? Had he done something, again, to make her feel he was not attentive enough?  As usual he was most likely blind to what was right in front of him but for the life of him didn’t know what it could be.

“Demelza, please,” he said, reaching for her hand, “tell me what worries you.”

Steeling herself for his wrath as he is prone to do when Elizabeth is concerned, she spoke.

“What do you and Elizabeth talk about when you visit Trenwith? “

Perplexed Ross thought about what his answer would be because in all honesty he couldn’t remember their conversations.

“Talk about?  We don’t talk about much of anything Demelza.  Why do you ask?”

As if she didn’t hear him she went on.

“Does she talk about possible changes to her situation?  Or about George?” 

Ross wondered why she was again mentioning George in the same sentence as Elizabeth. She had done it a few days earlier when he told her about selling the shares in the mine to repay her but dismissed it then as idle gossip.  Now he wasn’t so sure.

“What has George to do with anything Demelza?  I thought we were talking about us.  And why you think I would want someone else in my bed.” 

Demelza could see he was getting agitated and annoyed at the path their talk was taking so perhaps she should just come right out and tell him what she thought. 

“Verity mentioned that Elizabeth gave her the impression that something was going to change in her life.  I know that George has been attentive but I thought perhaps….since you and she seem to have gotten….close again…that maybe it wasn’t George who would be changing her circumstances. I thought perhaps it was….”

She stopped because she could not actually say the words. Saying them might make them true and then what?  Would Ross confess and then tell her he had made a mistake all those years ago when he married her?  That now that Elizabeth was free, it was their chance to make right what was wrong?

Ross looked at her intently, not believing what she was saying. Did his wife, the woman who he trusted and loved for all these years, honestly think he was going to leave her for his cousin’s widow?  He moved to tilt her chin up and gaze into her eyes and saw that was exactly what she thought. In fact she seemed resigned to that fact, the sadness in her blue eyes, evident.

“Demelza, do you truly believe that I am planning on making some sort of offer to Elizabeth?  Of what? For what?  She is one of my oldest friends and my cousin’s widow but she is no longer a part of my heart.” 

Demelza admitted he sounded convincing but a part of her still felt if a choice had to be made, he’d choose Elizabeth. 

“Ross, I don’t know. There is such an old and deep connection between you both. And with Francis gone what’s to stop you from….”

She didn’t get to finish that thought as Ross cut her off, his mouth crushing hers in a punishing kiss reminiscent of the first time his lips met hers.  Demelza was not prepared for this response from her husband so didn’t react right away, much like that first time.  After a moment or two of his nose pressed against hers, his mouth slanted over hers with his tongue pushing for entrance, she acquiesced.  Pulling away to take a breath, her eyes found his and saw need, passion and want in them.  She decided at that moment that tonight she was going to make Ross see her for the wife she had become and the lover he desired.

Demelza took the lead and began to kiss Ross with fervor, her mouth playing with his, her tongue licking his lips before nipping at them as he often did to her. Ross’s breath was labored, coming from deep within his chest and Demelza felt it on her face.  She pulled away to look at him and displayed a wicked grin as she pushed him down to lay flat on the sheets.  Raising his arms over his head, she held them in place while she proceeded to kiss down his body. Starting under his chin, she alternated between kisses and bites, the countered those with random suckling and licks. The warmth and weight of her form over his combined with the actions of her mouth were something Ross hadn’t experienced from her before and it soon had him moaning her name.

“Demelza,” he whispered.  His wife looked up at him, her eyes bright, almost wild, like her hair.  She ignored his silent plea but did let go of his arms as she needed to move lower to continue teasing him.  Demelza worked on his chest, focusing on his nipples, teasing them to hardness.  Ross wasn’t able to keep still and so reached for her, his hands threading through her mane to pull her up to him.  After assessing each other’s feelings, he brought her down to kiss him, but she stopped just shy of having their lips touch.

“No Ross, “she cried. She didn’t want him to kiss her again.  Not yet.  Not until she taunted him a little longer. 

“Please Demelza.  I need to kiss you, to taste you,” he pleaded.

Demelza looked down at him, her hands caressing his chest, her smile wide.  Ross on the other hand, looked as if he was in pain his body was aching with need and all because he wanted to kiss her.

“I will let you kiss me only if you tell me it’s my lips you are kissing and not Elizabeth’s.”

She sat back on her heels, moving her hands off his torso.  Ross stared up at her, wondering why she was obsessing about Elizabeth tonight and why she was letting her come between them.  All he wanted to do was make love to his wife.  Or as it happened, let her make love to him.

Ross sat up enough to be able to reach her and hold her face in his hands.

“My love, I don’t know what thoughts have been playing in your mind or why you are fixated on Elizabeth but please stop.  You are the love of my life, the mother of my children; my friend, my wife, my companion and, as you are clearly showing me tonight, my lover.  No one else matters, Demelza.  In this room, there is only you and me. Is that clear?” 

He kissed her then, not waiting for her permission, his lips warm and supple against hers.  She responded, her mouth melding to his easily, finding a tempo to their kiss that was slow and sensuous.  Ross’s hands roamed her body, rubbing her back before moving around to rest on her rib cage, gradually sliding up to find her breast.  It was then that Demelza caught his hand before he could come into complete contact with her.  Ross paused and lifted his face from hers as her fingers traced the scar on his face on its way to graze his jaw. 

Demelza wriggled a little on the bed to free her white nightgown from under her legs.  Once she could reach the hem she pulled it up and over her head, dropping the lightweight linen on the floor before turning back to look at her husband. Ross’s eyes widened at the sight of her nude body as her pale skin glowed in the firelight with her hair falling around her in wayward curls and waves. Not since that night before his trial when they undressed each other before making love for what they thought was the last time, had she been this bold. He didn’t know what had gotten into his wife, but he wasn’t going to question. She obviously was out to prove something to him and possibly herself, and he was going to let her.

“You are so beautiful, Demelza.  I don’t tell you that enough but you take my breath away,” Ross said, his voice thick with emotion. 

His eyes scanned her body, taking it in again after so many weeks.  Since Christmas there had been little time for them to come together physically and when they did it seemed hurried and under the covers, an attempt at comfort and solace, squeezed into the middle of their lives.   Tonight though it seemed Demelza was intent on making their joining something more.  He saw gooseflesh start to appear on her skin and tugged her towards him, swinging her underneath his body so that he could warm her.  The sheet covering his lower half fell away and soon they were flush against each other, his hardened body teasing her soft and pliable one.

“Ross, I want,” she started to say as his mouth warmed her, placing random kisses on her flesh.  He rubbed her with his hands, heated from the excitement of their actions as well as from the friction their contact created.

“I want as well, Demelza.  I want you,” he said in between kisses. 

“I hope so. But just in case your mind wanders I want you to see me tonight.”

With that she rolled him on to his back and took a position astride his lap. The sheet was tangled around his legs and Demelza pulled it out of the way so they were both now open and naked to each other.  No barriers or pretense.  Just Ross and Demelza.  She looked down at her husband and saw the unabashed admiration he had for her which made her smile.  Seeing the passion on his face spurred her on to continue.  Demelza slid back on his legs so that she sat on his thighs, her eyes never leaving his until her gaze dropped down to his body, in particular his groin. It was obvious that the teasing they had engaged in over the past half hour or so readied his body for her.  Demelza could see his manhood pulsing in its engorged state even in just the light from the fire and moon.  The tip glistened as Ross’s breathing became shallow.

“Demelza,” Ross croaked out, his voice raspy, his hands reaching for her but not quite able to meet hers. 

Seeing his discomfort she leaned over and kissed him, his mouth opening automatically not needing any coaxing while he clasped her to his chest. Demelza moved up slightly, her mound now lying directly on his erection and she instinctually rubbed against him, creating more tension between them almost to the point of being painful.

“Ross,” she said against his chest, her mouth kissing the soft hair that covered his muscles as she moved her lower body in position to take him.

Demelza sat up, feeling the chill of being separated from Ross who watched as her hand slipped between them. She lifted up slightly, and gently taking him in her hand, placed his member at her entrance. With slow deliberation and her eyes focused on his face, she slid onto him, taking him fully into her body as Ross let out a groan of contentment.  Feeling his wife around his body filled him with a sense of completion.  No matter what may come between them, this brought them home to each other and made them whole. As Demelza took a moment, her eyes closed and she inhaled deeply. Then letting her eyes flutter open, she turned her attention to Ross, who had placed his hand on her tiny waist, his thumbs in their usual place under her breasts.  She bent over once more to kiss him before beginning to move over him.  As she lifted off him, she contracted her inner muscles drawing them slowly against his penis, before relaxing and sliding down again. 

Ross watched her as she performed this dance of love on his body, her hands holding his thighs behind her, his eyes mesmerized by the ivory skin of her breasts and rose-colored nipples as they moved in rhythm with the rest of her.  He let his fingers caress and massage her waist slipping around to find her buttocks and squeezed ever so gently as he drew her forward on his lap and then pushed her back. The motion of groin to groin fed their need and Ross started to move his hips in time to hers.  Demelza’s mouth dropped open as little gasps escaped. She let her eyes drop down to look at Ross whose own eyes were closed.  Tonight she wanted him to look at her and see her as she brought them both to release.

She moved her hands to his face forcing him to look at her.

“Look at me Ross,” she insisted. “I want you to see me and no one else.”  Her words were stilted as she tried to speak while she sped up her ministrations, feeling the tension coil in her womb and knowing that the end was coming soon for them.

“Demelza, there is no one but you my love. No one,” he said, his jaw clenched as he felt his bollocks tightened and the first jet of his seed left his body to fill her. 

“Judas,” Demelza cried as she felt his warm fluid line the walls of her body igniting her own orgasm. Unable to hold herself up as her body began to spasm, she collapsed onto Ross’s chest and he held her as they both shuddered their climax.

They said nothing as they lay in each other’s arms, their bodies returning to normal, and the chill in the air wafting over them.  Ross felt Demelza shiver but she made no attempt to move off him and under the covers. His body relaxed and slowly began to slip from hers but because of their position, the connection remained.

“Demelza, let me get you under the covers my dear, you’ll catch cold,” he said. 

Shifting them both to lay side by side, he was able to pull the sheets and covers up over both of them, his arms taking her back into his embrace.  Demelza curled into his side her head under his chin, and her arm draped over his torso. She threw one of her legs over and between his, as her breasts and groin pressed flush against his side.

“Ross, are you mad?” she asked.  Demelza didn’t look at him as she spoke.

“What in God’s name would I be mad about?  I swear woman, you are just intent on confusing me tonight,” he said.

“Mad that I didn’t let you do what you wanted,” she said shyly.

“Do what I wanted?  You make it sound like I believe lovemaking is only to be driven by the man. You know that is not the truth especially between us. My love, what we share and what we did tonight are who we are and why I love you so.  I love that you felt comfortable enough to show me what you felt for me. For us.  Don’t ever feel embarrassed for wanting to make love to me.  I will never stop you from acting on your whims.” 

Demelza could hear the smile in his voice and for now the dark thoughts that invaded her mind earlier were gone. Ross loved her. She loved him.  That was unquestionable and unbreakable.  She was sure of that.  For now that is what she will keep and hold fast because as Ross said: nothing else matters.

****~~~~****

One week later

Demelza lay in her bed, the sun just rising.  She opened her eyes slowly and when she saw the dark hair of her son lying next to her she knew that Ross did not return from Trenwith.  So the thing she feared the most had come to pass.  She had asked him last night not to go. She had almost begged him but her pride stopped her from acting that needy.  Demelza knew once he read the letter all reason left his mind. The day had been one of loss and heartache but she never expected to feel those same emotions stemming from her husband’s unrealistic obsession with Elizabeth.  She found it hard to say her name even to herself as it evoked not only despair but even hate.  And that was one emotion she was not acquainted with.

She slipped out of bed quietly hoping not to wake Jeremy as he did not fall asleep until Demelza had finally put him down after pacing their bedroom most of the night. She had stayed up hoping against hope that her instincts were wrong and Ross would come bursting through the door. Unfortunately her instincts were right and now she faced the day and possibly her life alone.  She was numb.  She thought when it happened she would feel rage, anger, or pain.  Instead she felt nothing. She did not even have tears to shed.  She got dressed quickly and as she looked at her son, lying where his father usually did, her mind wandered back to a night a week before, when she and Ross had shared their bodies and feelings unlike they had before.  The room had been bathed in the white light of the moon and the orange glow of the fire.  They made love through the night and Demelza was surer of them than ever before.  Now that would only be a memory of the past for the future was unknown.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for sticking with me on these trips into Poldark AU. It is greatly appreciated and I hope you're not sick of me yet. 
> 
> There might be a few left in me and "Trying...."is still being worked on....I promise.


End file.
